7 survive NJ Liberty Helicopters crash...
SLHFOTO
news:
7 escape Hopewell copter crash
06/15/01
By RAY HENRY and T.A. PARMALEE
Staff Writers
HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP -- Six businessmen and a pilot, returning to New York City
from the Philadelphia 76ers playoff game early yesterday morning, escaped
serious injury after their helicopter crashed in a field near routes 31 and 612
during an emergency landing in heavy fog, aviation officials said.
Three of the men are investment managers and potential investors in the United
Bank of Switzerland (UBS) in Stamford, Conn.
The other three are UBS employees, said one of the passengers, Chris Kane, a
37-year-old portfolio manager with Tudor Investment Corp. in Greenwich, Conn.,
who lives in Allendale.
Though aviation officials said the crash occurred during an emergency landing,
Kane said, "We hit a tree and crashed. I don't consider that an emergency
landing."
The helicopter was flown by Paul Tramontana, 40, of New York City.
The chartered Eurocopter AS350, operated by Liberty Helicopter in Linden, left
Philadelphia International Airport about 12:20 a.m. and was en route to New
York when the pilot encountered heavy fog just north of the Quaker Bridge Mall
about 20 minutes later, said Patrick Day, the company's director of operations.
The helicopter was diverted to Trenton Mercer Airport in Ewing, but visibility
worsened quickly. Tramontana landed in a nearby field and crashed after the
aircraft's rotor struck a tree during the descent.
"We were just terrified," Kane said. "We were flying back from the game and got
to the point where we couldn't see anything. The next thing I knew we hit a
tree and we were going down."
Kane said a tree penetrated the helicopter's windshield and struck Jeff Horan,
a 36-year-old UBS employee from New York City, knocking out his front teeth.
For a moment, Kane said, he feared Horan was dead.
Kane said the night quickly turned from fun to terror. "We were being
entertained," he said. "They hired a limo to take us from the airport (in
Philadelphia) to the game. I got a nice cheese steak. . . . It was great. And
when we were flying home it went from a great evening to a nightmare.
"We were nervous," Kane added. "It was definitely intense. We couldn't see, and
whenever you can't see, your instincts make you nervous."
Kane said no one was talking to Tramontana, the pilot, during the emergency
landing. "We were just talking amongst ourselves," Kane said. "I was just
terrified. People were screaming in terror."
Once they landed, Kane said Michael Carley, a former Army sergeant and an
employee of Cerberus Partners in New York, took control of the situation.
"We didn't know where we were," Kane said. "So (Carley) took some charge. He
was a little bit more used to a crisis type of situation."
Also in the helicopter were Drew Doscher, 31, an employee with UBS in Old
Brookville, N.Y.; Michael Hisler, 28, an employee with Cerberus Partners in New
York; and Nat Klipper, 28, an employee with Perry Partners in New York.
Kane was still shaken up over the incident last night. "I want to put this
behind me," he said.
Initial National Transportation Safety Board reports said the crash happened at
1:40 a.m.
The victims suffered minor injuries and were taken to the Capital Health
System's Fuld and Mercer hospitals, where they were treated and released
yesterday, a hospital spokeswoman said.
The helicopter sustained "serious damage," according to Federal Aviation
Administration spokesman Jim Peters. Investigators from both the FAA and the
National Transportation Safety Board investigated the wreckage yesterday at the
scene of the crash.
The aircraft will be disassembled and trucked to Linden Municipal Airport for
further investigation, he said.
Peters said the cause of the crash is unknown, but investigators will look into
a variety of factors, including the heavy fog, before issuing a final report
months from now.
The impact was loud enough to alert several nearby residents.
Doris Wert of Mine Road said she heard the crash and thought it was thunder, or
maybe somebody pulling up in her driveway. Then she heard people yelling
outside.
"Then all of the police came and the search lights were looking in the fields,"
she said. "It was very foggy. I thought maybe they were looking for someone who
escaped from an institution."
"Something woke me up, but I think it was the sirens," said Edith Silver,
another Mine Road resident. "I don't think the crash was loud enough to wake me
up."
Mercer County Administrator John Ricci said a second helicopter that had left
the Sixers game also encountered problems with the weather, but it was
successful in making it to the Trenton Mercer Airport for a landing.
Both helicopters were bound from Philadelphia to New York.
Fog forming over the Delaware River can make flying over Mercer County
dangerous, several veteran helicopter pilots said yesterday.
However, the forecasts were good when the Liberty Helicopter flight left
Philadelphia early yesterday morning, Day said. The pilot, who was flying in
uncontrolled airspace under visual rules, followed company policy by landing
when visibility decreased, he said.
FAA regulations forbid helicopters like the AS350 from flying at night when
cloud ceilings are lower than 350 feet with less than a half mile of
visibility, Day said.
Barney Berlinger, a pilot for Horsham Valley Airways, has flown the AS350 for
three years and called the craft "reliable."
The cabin stayed mostly intact during the crash, a "testament" to the
aircraft's safe design, he said.
Even so, most pilots turn back when possible after hitting the heavy Delaware
River fog, which can extend up to 3 miles on either side of the riverbank.
"The most prudent thing to do is go back from where you came from," said Lt.
Pete Landauer, who flies a Sikorsky S76B and several Bell helicopters for the
New Jersey State Police. "Weather is fickle, especially when you have
atmospheric conditions like you do now."
The fog, produced by recent high heat and humidity, can be disorienting when
flying under visual rules, Landauer said. "You can't even see 10 feet in front
of your face."
Staff writers Joel Bewley and Larry Hanover contributed to this report.
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Andres L. Kerllenevich
when
> cloud ceilings are lower than 350 feet with less than a half mile of
> visibility, Day said.
What regulation?
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